Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward

Goodreads Summary:

"In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war raging between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Possessed by a deadly beast, Rhage is the most dangerous of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

Within the brotherhood, Rhage is the vampire with the strongest appetites. He's the best fighter, the quickest to act on his impulses, and the most voracious lover-for inside him burns a ferocious curse cast by the Scribe Virgin. Owned by this dark side, Rhage fears the time when his inner dragon is unleashed, making him a danger to everyone around him.

Mary Luce, a survivor of many hardships is unwittingly thrown into the vampire world and reliant on Rhage's protection. With a life-threatening curse of her own, Mary is not looking for love. She lost her faith in miracles years ago. But when Rhage's intense animal attraction turns into something more emotional, he knows that he must make Mary his alone. And while their enemies close in, Mary fights desperately to gain life eternal with the one she loves..."

Overall Thoughts:

Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward was an enchanting read. The idea to read this series started when I was watching Kassidy Voinche's book review of the first two novels in the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series; Dark Lover and Lover Eternal. After listening to the review I immediately looked up the series on Goodreads. The key words that I took from it were: vampires, hot, steamy, and sexy. This was just what I was looking for. I've never been a fan of contemporary romance due to for some reason not being able to get into it at all. Every time I've started a contemporary romance I have set in down after a few chapters from boredom. However, adult romance I have found to be extremely entertaining. I love the darker adult romances...and better yet a paranormal romance makes it that much more enjoyable for me. I don't think I'll grow out of the paranormal genre for a long time because I love romance with a twist. Normal romance bores me most of the time and I love a romance with a little something extra.

I read Dark Lover a few months ago and I loved it. I was in a book hangover and didn't know what was going to get me back into reading. Once I thought of the next book in the series I knew it was perfect. I listened to the first book as an audio book so I knew I wanted to experience the book the same way. As soon as I started the book I knew it was just what I needed. Of course right once I got the the part where you knew Mary and Rhage were going to meet I had to go to work.  At that point my feelings were:

I wanted to keep listening to this book so badly. Of course it had to be right before the two main characters were going to meet. Fortunately, as soon as I got home I kept listening and listening all the way to 2 in the morning. The next day I didn't have to work which turned out great because I was able to continue listening to the book. I listened to it all day while I got some laundry and dishes done. Then I got to the scenes in the park, which is the beginning of one of my favorite parts of the book, and I was like: All the way through Rhage and Mary going back to her house and him spending the night I loved. YES I enjoyed all scenes between the two; but, like all books there are always parts that you enjoy even more. Than I got to the part where Rhage turns in front of Mary. I was so excited when Mary finally saw Rhage in his cursed form, which is a dragon. I had been waiting for this moment for so long while listening to the audio book.  I knew it would happen at some point but I was so happy when it finally did.  I loved the way it happened also.

Mary runs away and Rhage comes to Bella's house to find her.  Only when Rhage goes to take Mary home there are lessers waiting for them. Rhage turns into the dragon to protect her and so on.  

Then I got to the end of the book. I was so bummed because I enjoyed the book so much I wanted more.  I wanted so much more of Rhage and Mary, but at the same time the book was wrapped up so nicely I was happy with the ending.  Although I had many emotions, the one that overpowered was:

Characters:

Mary: Our lead female of the novel I enjoyed. She is struggling with an illness and at the same time is swept away by an eternal vampire whom is beyond her wildest dreams. Although at times I found her to be slightly annoying I could understand why she acted the way she did. What would you do if you knew you weren't going to live much longer. I also enjoyed the journey of Mary's personal growth throughout the book. Mary at the begging is a much weaker character than she is towards the end in my opinion.

Rhage: Our lead male I loved. Rhage is also struggling with personal issues as is Mary. However, Rhage has a much more dangerous problem than Mary. Rhage has a curse that turns him into a dragon. I never found myself annoyed by the character at any points in the book. The character makes a lot of personal sacrifices for Mary because he loves her and wants to protect her. I love a character who has undying love towards another. Especially when it is coming from a man.

Bella: Mary's best friend and neighbor is a secondary character in this novel, who ends up becoming the lead of the third novel and has her own story line. I kept picturing Bella as Elena from The Vampire Diaries, at least the TV show. I would love to have a friend/neighbor like Bella. She is a fun character to get to know.

Would I recommend this book to others?

If you are an individual like myself who loves; paranormal, supernatural, at times erotic, adult romance reads than this is definitely the book for you.  This book is the second book in the series and as of now my favorite. I have read the first three books in the series and Rhage and Mary's love story is my personal favorite.